by
Alan Alkus and Phil Irish
Wednesday
- May 16th
We started
out by posting Chrysler meet signs that were painted by Dean Roberts,
then checked the Ramada parking lot and were surprised to see some
300s a day before the meet! Some early arrivals were Dave McMurren,
67 300 convert and Bill Elder 64 300K convert, both from Ontario
Canada; Spencer Siracusano, 300C from Des Moines, Iowa and Chris
Frederick 300F from Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
Thursday
– May 17th
Dinner Cruise
– when we first planned the meet, we estimated that thirty to
forty people would attend the first day’s activity, so we
chartered a boat that would hold forty-five. Eleanor called us
around the first of May and said “we have fifty-seven people
already! Can we get a larger boat?” So we quickly chartered
another boat but had to settle for an earlier departure time so
Eleanor sent out letters to members explaining the earlier departure
time and some people had to be sent refunds since they couldn’t
be in Memphis for the earlier departure time.
We had been
concerned about security for the cars so we asked the WPC Club
Mid-South Chapter for volunteers for the 3 days. Norman Blackley
shuttled us to and from the boat from a safe, distant parking lot and
Jim Nelson guarded our cars while a total of sixty-nine of us enjoyed
a fun-filled cruise down the Mississippi River and gorged ourselves
on Memphis barbeque.
Friday
– May 18th
Graceland
Tour – After a nice drive to Graceland, our 300s were parked in
a long row and the tour started at 11:00 A.M. Some just went to
Elvis Presley’s mansion while others saw the automobile museum,
a movie about Elvis, his tour bus and airplanes, including the large
plane, LISA MARIE, named after his daughter. During the tour, the
impressive line up of 300s attracted continuous attention in the
parking lot. Many reminisced and a few did not recognize what they
were but Phil Irish our “guard-guide” quickly informed
them of the significance of what they were looking at and invited
them to attend our car show the next day.
Business
Meeting – the hospitality room had been free to the club to use
for the 3 days and it was a perfect size for our gathering place and
club store, but we had to request a few dozen more chairs to
accommodate everyone who crowded in for the meeting.
Dash Plaque –
we had hashed this out. What is famous about Memphis? New York has
the Statue of Liberty; St; Louis has the Arch and Philadelphia has
the Liberty Bell. Memphis has a “M” shaped bridge and a
32-story pyramid. (All of us saw these structures when we were on
our dinner cruise on the Mississippi.) Meet co-host, Phil Irish’s
300B was also depicted on the dash plaque along with the bridge and
pyramid.
T-shirts –
An added attraction was custom t-shirts for those who wanted a
souvenir of our 21st Spring Meet. In addition to making
an ideal remembrance of a good time, they generated a small profit
for the club. Meet co-host, Alan Alkus’s C300 was used for the
car on the shirt.
Weather –
We worried about the weather before the meet but fortunately, we only
had a few sprinkles Saturday morning while the 300’s were
parking at the car show.
Saturday
– May 19th
Car Show –
With the help of Fritz Crombie, arrangements were made with Kevin
Naughton, part owner of Liberty Chrysler Plymouth, to use the back
lot of the dealership for our car show. They also provided us with a
large tent which was welcomed and gave us a place to get out of the
light rain earlier and a shady spot later. Mr. Naughton also donated
various items for our goody bags such as letter openers, copies of
Mopar Performance News Magazine featuring the new 300 Concept Car and
10, one ounce silver commemorative “bill of rights” coins
to be used as door prizes. Many thanks also to Rodger Holt,
Liberty’s Service Manager, for expediently clearing the area
for our show. There were 32 cars total with 19 of them being Letter
300s,
Awards
Banquet – After a good dinner, it was time to announce the
winners.
People’s
Choice Awards
Group
I: 1955 C300 – 1958 300D
1st
Place 300D owned by Jim Golden, Topeka, Kansas
2nd
Place 300C owned by Spencer Siracusano, Des Moines, Iowa
Group
II: 1959 300E – 1962 300H
1st
Place 300G owned by Joe James, Cape Girardeau, Missouri
2nd
Place 300G owned by Bud Jones, Clarksville, Texas
Group
III: 1963 300J – Hurst
1st
Place 300L owned by Ken Quick, Mandan, North Dakota
2nd
Place 300K cvt owned by bill Elder, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Long
Distance; Ken Quick, 300L – 1,0421 miles, from Mandan, North
Dakota
Longest
Distance: Alain Labas, from Servins, France
Hard
Luck: Bill Woodman, Pueblo, Colorado, 300C – generator failure
Door prizes
were then given out including lady’s jewelry and a magnificent
C300 clock donated by Larry Jett. The winner of the clock was Ray
Jones – The luck of the draw! No, no one went away, without at
least some small prize.
Joe Baker, a
local automotive historian, spoke to us about the history of Chrysler
Corporation and Walter P. Chrysler’s involvement with other
makes prior to building his own cars. Although Mr. Baker’s
slide presentation did not have any Chrysler 300s, he did show us
some very interesting automobiles. The depth and breadth of his
knowledge made an interesting presentation and having him there was
an innovative addition to our banquet and he was well received.
Sunday
– May 20th
Most people
left early for their trips home while others met for breakfast and
said their “goodbyes and see you again at another meet.”
Just let us know when you would like to come back to Memphis and we
will gladly host another met.
Chrysler
300s at Memphis, Tennessee
C300: Alan
Alkus; 300B: Charles Fabian, Phil Irish, Marlin Thyer; 300C: Spencer
Siracusano, Bill Woodman; 300D: Jim Golden; 300F: Len Astroth, Mike
Burke, Chris Fredrick; 300G: Adam Carter, Joe James, Bud Jones; 300J:
George Riehl; 300K: Jerry Kocur (cvt), Bill Elder (cvt); 300L: Ken
Quick, Robert Cornett (cvt); Hurst: Jerry Olson; 1966: Russ Vaughan;
1967: Dave McMurren (cvt); 1979: Jack Wiltse
Thanks to Bill Elder for typing this article for the web